Source: United States Department of Justice
Event
Date:
Virtual Event
Agencies are required to post their FY25 Annual FOIA Reports on their websites and notify OIP of their publication by March 1st, 2026.
Updated September 30, 2025
Topic
FOIA
Source: United States Department of Justice
Event
Date:
Virtual Event
Agencies are required to post their 2026 CFO Reports online. Once posted, please email OIP at DOJ.OIP.FOIA@usdoj.gov with the link to your agency’s report.
Updated September 30, 2025
Topic
FOIA
Source: United States Department of Defense
The U.S. military is strong again, with a focus on merit and a warrior spirit, President Donald J. Trump said during a speech to hundreds of general and flag officers from around the War Department at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
ALBUQUERQUE – A Shiprock man is facing federal charges after aiming his assault-style rifle at a minor and other witnesses during a fight that left the minor-victim hospitalized.
According to court documents, on September 21, 2025, Azariah Arnold Cleveland, 18, an enrolled member of Navajo Nation, drove himself and several accomplices to the minor’s home to confront the minor. Once Cleveland spotted the minor walking along the road, the occupants of Cleveland’s car got out and assaulted the minor. During this fight, Cleveland got out of his car and pointed his assault-style rifle at the minor, the minor’s parents, and other witnesses, firing seven to eight shots in the air. The minor was later treated at a local hospital for injuries.
Cleveland is charged with assault with a dangerous weapon against a minor, assault resulting in serious bodily injury, and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. Trial in this case has not yet been set. If convicted, Cleveland a minimum of 10 years in prison.
Acting U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison and Justin A. Garris, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Albuquerque Field Office, made the announcement today.
The Gallup Resident Agency of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Albuquerque Field Office investigated this case with assistance from the Navajo Nation Police Department and Navajo Department of Criminal Investigations. Assistant U.S. Attorney Zachary C. Jones is prosecuting the case.
A criminal complaint is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow sentenced Daniel Michael Harris, Sr., 44, of Waldorf, Maryland, to 14 years in federal prison for committing four armed robberies while using, carrying, and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.
Kelly O. Hayes, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, announced the sentence with Special Agent in Charge William J. DelBagno of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) – Baltimore Field Office; Chief George Nader, Prince George’s County Police Department (PGPD); Sheriff Troy D. Berry, Charles County Sheriff’s Office; and Chief Marc Yamada, Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD).
According to court documents, Harris and his co-conspirators planned and committed armed robberies of two businesses in Prince George’s County, one business in Charles County, and one business in Montgomery County. On March 23, and March 28, 2023, Harris and his co-conspirators robbed two convenience stores in Prince George’s County, stealing cash from the registers and several packs of cigarettes. Harris brandished a pistol-grip shotgun during both robberies.
Then on April 5, 2023, Harris and his co-conspirators robbed a convenience store in Charles County, stealing cash from the registers and the wallet and phone of a store employee. Harris also brandished a pistol-grip shotgun and held the store employee at gunpoint while pinning a customer into a wall corner with his forearm.
On April 6, 2023, Harris and his co-conspirators robbed a convenience store in Montgomery County, stealing cash from the register and a store employee’s purse and phone. Harris also brandished the same pistol-grip shotgun used in the earlier robberies.
Then on April 12, 2023, a PGPD officer observed the getaway vehicle Harris and his co-conspirators used in two of the robberies, resulting in a traffic stop. The occupants of the vehicle fled and escaped. Law enforcement recovered several items from the vehicle and submitted the items for Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) testing. A subsequent DNA report revealed a high stringency match between Harris and a DNA sample from a bottle recovered from the vehicle.
On November 9, 2023, Charles County Sherriff’s Office detectives obtained and executed a search warrant for Harris’s storage unit. Detectives accessed the storage unit and identified the clothing items Harris wore and the same pistol-grip shotgun he used during the robberies.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.
U.S. Attorney Hayes praised the FBI, PGPD, Charles County Sheriff’s Office, and MCPD for their work in the investigation. Ms. Hayes also thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Megan S. McKoy who prosecuted the case.
For more information about the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, visit justice.gov/usao-md and justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.
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Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
BANGOR, Maine: A Spanish man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Bangor for illegally reentering the U.S. after a prior removal.
U.S. District Judge Nancy Torresen sentenced Jose Angel Hidalgo-Torres, 20, to time served (72 days). He pleaded guilty on August 12, 2025.
According to court records, Hidalgo-Torres was found in Calais, Maine shortly after illegally entering the United States on July 18, 2025. He was previously removed from the country in May 2024.
Hidalgo-Torres was turned over to immigration authorities at the conclusion of the proceedings.
The U.S. Border Patrol investigated the case.
Operation Take Back America: This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).
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Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
WASHINGTON – Dewayne Keith Miles, 29, a convicted felon residing in the District of Columbia, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court to 36-months in prison in connection with firing a gun in the air 13 times in a residential neighborhood, announced U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.
Miles pleaded guilty June 30 to one count of unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. In addition to the 36-month prison term, Judge John D. Bates ordered Miles to serve 3 years of supervised release.
This prosecution comes under the auspices of Make D.C. Safe Again, a program that is surging resources to reduce violent crime in the District of Columbia. This initiative was created to address gun violence in the District, prioritize federal firearms violations, pursue tougher penalties for offenders, and seek detention for federal firearms violators.
According to court documents, on March 15, 2025, about 3:30 p.m., Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officers were investigating a robbery on the 4400 block of E Street, SE.
Officers heard several gunshots and looked for their origin. On the 4600 block of Benning Road, SE, officers saw Miles holding a pistol above his head and firing the gun into the air.
Miles fled into a nearby building. At the same time, officers found 13 cartridge casings on the street. A short distance from casings by a curb, officers recovered a Smith & Wesson, SD9 pistol. A records check determined the handgun had been reported stolen.
Miles ultimately surrendered and police transported him to the Sixth District. In a search at the cell block, police discovered Miles had a live round of 9mm ammunition in his pocked, consistant with the ammo found at the scene of the shooting.
This case was investigated by the Metropolitan Police Department with assistance from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Washington Field Division. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Emory V. Cole.
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Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
BANGOR, Maine: A Mexican national pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Bangor to illegally entering the U.S. after a prior removal.
According to court records, on September 16, 2025, Javier Amateco-Navarrette, 38, was a passenger in a vehicle stopped by the U.S. Border Patrol in Oakland, Maine. During the traffic stop, Amateco-Navarrette admitted he was a citizen of Mexico and in the U.S. illegally. He was previously removed from the country on two separate occasions in 2018.
Amateco-Navarrette faces up to two years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000. He will be sentenced after the completion of a presentence investigative report by the U.S. Probation Office. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The U.S. Border Patrol investigated the case.
Operation Take Back America: This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).
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Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Kelly Ballinger wrote her name on rent payments, altered renters’ incomes to steal funds
PORTLAND, Maine: A Glenburn woman was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Portland for embezzling from an organization receiving federal funds and conspiring to alter money orders.
U.S. District Judge John A. Woodcock, Jr. sentenced Kelly Ballinger, 59, to 60 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release. Ballinger will also be ordered to pay restitution totaling approximately $1 million. Ballinger pleaded guilty on May 1, 2024.
According to court records, Ballinger was a former property manager for a Portland apartment complex with residences funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). From about October 2015 to June 2021, Ballinger stole rent payments made by HUD Housing Choice Voucher Program tenants. Ballinger would direct the tenants to pay their rent with a blank postal money order and then would place her name or that of her subordinate employee Kathleen Conway, 71, on the payee line, adding information such as “groceries” on the memo line to suggest the payments were reimbursements. In some instances, Ballinger would deflate the tenants’ income to as low as $0 so that HUD would pay a larger share of the rent to disguise shortfalls.
Kathleen Conway pleaded guilty to embezzlement and was sentenced on June 6, 2024, to two years of probation and ordered to pay $35,710 in restitution.
In pronouncing the sentence, Judge Woodcock observed that Ballinger was “able to concoct a scheme that avoided detection for years.” The court described her embezzlement as “calculated, deliberate, and devious.”
The HUD Office of Inspector General (OIG) and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigated the case.
“Ballinger and her co-conspirator preyed on the vulnerability of elderly and disabled individuals and altered income and expense documents to falsely increase HUD rental subsidies, which she then funneled to her personal bank account,” said Special Agent in Charge Shawn Rice with HUD OIG. “HUD OIG will continue to work with its law enforcement partners to diligently pursue and hold accountable bad actors who willfully misuse federal assets.”
“The U.S. Postal Inspection Service routinely seeks prosecution of individuals like Kelly Ballinger, who swindled funds that were designated to support fellow community members with housing,” said Ketty Larco-Ward, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Boston Division. “Postal Inspectors, alongside HUD OIG, uncovered the fraud schemes employed by Ballinger and her co-conspirator, to conceal her activities and line her pockets. We will continue to support and collaborate with our federal law enforcement partners to stop those who are engaged in these types of schemes.”
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Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
A federal grand jury in Denver returned an indictment on August 21, 2025, charging two Denver-area companies and the companies’ top executives for defrauding the federal government on sales of forklifts and conspiring to avoid paying proper tariffs on forklifts imported into the United States.
According to court documents, Endless Sales Inc. (Endless), Octane Forklifts, Inc. (Octane), current executives Brian Firkins and Jeffrey Blasdel, and former executive J.R. Antczak allegedly conspired to import forklifts from China, disguise the Chinese origin of the forklifts, and then sell the forklifts to federal government agencies by fraudulently representing the forklifts as being manufactured in the United States. The indictment also alleges that Endless, Octane, Firkins, Blasdel, and Antczak conspired with an unnamed Chinese national and a Chinese manufacturer to create fake commercial invoices that fraudulently undervalued the cost of forklifts that Endless and Octane imported into the United States, thereby defrauding the government of over $1 million in applicable tariffs, duties, and fees. Firkins, Blasdel, and Antczak are each additionally charged with separate wire fraud charges, and Blasdel is also charged with making false statements to the government.
“Defrauding the United States to profit from goods made in adversarial nations like China undermines our economic and national security,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “The Justice Department is committed to protecting American taxpayer dollars, defending our national security against those who would undermine it, and holding accountable anyone who pursues illegal profits over our country.”
“Defendants fraudulently hid the origins of the products they sold the government and conspired to avoid paying tariffs,” said Assistant Attorney General Abigail Slater of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. “The Antitrust Division’s Procurement Collusion Strike Force and its law enforcement partners will continue to prosecute and hold accountable those who seek to fraudulently obtain taxpayer funds.”
“Today’s indictments are the result of the collaboration among the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) and our law enforcement partners to hold accountable those who seek to violate America’s trade laws to enrich themselves,” said Acting Inspector General Steve Stebbins of the Department of Defense. “DCIS remains committed to safeguarding the integrity of the DoD contracting process.”
“Federal contractors are expected to be honest in their dealings with the government,” said Deputy Inspector General Robert Erickson of the U.S. General Services Administration Office of Inspector General. “These indictments demonstrate our special agents’ commitment to pursue allegations of procurement fraud and protect the government’s supply chain.”
“My office is committed to protecting taxpayer dollars and the integrity of federal procurement,” said Inspector General Joseph V. Cuffari, Ph.D of DHS OIG. “Octane Forklifts, Endless Sales, and their executives allegedly engaged in a brazen scheme to sell rebranded Chinese made forklifts to FEMA and the Department of Defense , all while falsely certifying their compliance with the Buy America Act. It is especially reprehensible that this alleged fraud involved a FEMA contract using disaster funds. I commend our law enforcement partners, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado, and DOJ’s Antitrust Division for their steadfast commitment to holding these individuals accountable.”
“This indictment reflects the commitment of the Air Force to uphold the integrity in public contracting and protect taxpayer dollars,” said Director Jason T. Hein, Office of Procurement Fraud Investigations, Office of Special Investigations, USAF. “Procurement fraud undermines trust in government and diverts resources from maintaining our national security and missions they’re meant to serve. We will continue to pursue accountability wherever public funds are at risk.”
“Intentionally violating the Buy America Act to defraud the US Government, isn’t just a legal issue, it is a demonstration of complete disregard for US law and the safety and security of our US military.” said Special Agent in Charge Derek Tilton of the Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division. “The US Army will not tolerate contract fraud and will vigorously pursue all available legal recourse.”
Firkins, Blasdel, Antczak, Endless, and Octane are charged with conspiring to commit wire fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1349. Firkins, Blasdel, and Antczak are similarly charged with individual counts of wire fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1343. For the individuals, each count of conviction carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000. For the corporations, the maximum penalty is a fine of $500,000. Firkins, Blasdel, Antczak, Endless and Octane are also charged with conspiring to enter goods into the United States by means of false or fraudulent statements. For the individuals, a count of conviction carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of $250,000. For the corporations, the maximum penalty is a fine of $500,000, or twice the gain derived from the offense, or twice the loss caused by the offense. Finally, Blasdel is charged with making false statements to the government, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
If convicted, a federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The Antitrust Division’s Chicago Office is prosecuting the case, which was investigated with the assistance of the United States Army Criminal Investigative Division, Defense Criminal Investigative Service, U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigation, U.S. General Services Administration Office of Inspector General, Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General, and U.S. Defense Contract Audit Agency. The Westminster, Colorado, Police Department provided valuable assistance.
In November 2019, the Justice Department created the Procurement Collusion Strike Force (PCSF), a joint law enforcement effort to combat antitrust crimes and related fraudulent schemes that impact government procurement, grant and program funding at all levels of government — federal, state and local. To learn more about the PCSF, or to report information on bid rigging, price fixing, market allocation and other anticompetitive conduct related to government spending, go to www.justice.gov/procurement-collusion-strike-force. Anyone with information in connection with this investigation can contact the PCSF at the link listed above.
An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.